A few firsts...

Yesterday Zuri and I had our first solo trip to the zoo. We love having the pass so we can go, even for just a short trip. Yesterday we did a walk through the whole zoo, without stopping for any real amount of time. It was also her first time sitting in the big girl part of the stroller! Although she looks unhappy, she did enjoy it...

Then we got tired...

Today, we accidentally dressed alike!

Midnight and waiting...

Zuri has been having a bad habit of wanting ME for some comfort. I was trying to eliminate this by not allowing it during the day naps and having Pedro give her a bottle at night sometimes when she wakes up (at an early wakeup before he goes to bed). Tonight we followed that routine. However, she woke up at 11:15 crying. I was thinking that maybe she was hungry because she only took 2.5 oz at 10:00 when she woke up. So I went in and she ate some and then fell asleep. I laid her down and she started crying. At this point I don't believe she is hungry but wants me. So, I refused to pick her up. I am here writing while she is crying. I just checked on her and made her take a paci. She is still awake, but I got her to stop and so I will take some time and post some pictures with hopes that I can go to bed. I am waiting a few minutes to make sure that I don't have to do the crying process over again. During the day she will do this for hours. We had a pretty good day today... Napping after shopping and lunch with mom and dad...

Starting to enjoy my bumbo (bimbo, as my mom calls it!)

Yesterday, waiting for dad to get home from work.. My hand sure does taste good! It is my favorite thing to do right now

Dad where are you??

Oh well, I found something else to play with (we were sitting in the back of his car waiting, he was on his motorcycle)

Alright, cross your fingers for me. It looks like she may have gone to sleep.

Zuri's first flight!

Zurianna took her first plane flight this weekend to California, for a tournament. Not only was it her first flight, but it was my first flight with a baby ALONE! The hardest part of the whole trip was going through security. On the way through Denver the security person was very friendly and helpful. I had to take apart my stroller with the carseat, I had to take the car seat base off of the stroller (had to bring that part for the car), hold Zuri, take off my shoes, put my bag on the scanner. I definitely needed about 12 hands. Once I got through the screening, nobody helped me get everything back together, so it was a fun balancing act. Zuri behaved pretty well through all of this. After I arrived at the gate, I had grabbed some food and ate. Zuri was also well behaved at this time too. Then I had to start the process of breaking down everything again because for boarding I had to leave the stroller and carseat for a gate check. When I got to board, a few people helped me get my stroller folded up, while I was holding Zuri. Once on the plane I was wondering where I should sit, when some lady said that I could sit with her. I asked if she was sure! I sat at the window and she had the aisle. Her hope was that nobody would sit in the middle, and luckily they didn't. Zuri was fine and was asleep before take off. The trip out to Cali was all pretty good. After she woke up from her short 20 minute nap, she sat on my lap and was entertaining herself. She seemed a little confused when a voice would come over the speaker, she would stop doing whatever she was doing and look around!

When we arrived Zuri was all tuckered out! I even wondered if I should claim her!

Then I got to the hotel and got her dressed for our first game, in her Jordan gear.

We had a late night game and Zuri was pretty good until the last two minutes which led to a scream fest. The night was ok, had some usual wakeups and then a nap the next morning before our game. But apparently it wasn't enough as here she was after our game!

Then we went to the airport. She decided that screaming through the whole first part of the airport was her job. I had multiple people tell me that if your child is screaming like that, then she needs something. Like I was depriving my child. I told them she is tired and wants to be in the bjorn. But they looked at me like I was crazy. She screamed through the whole security process, kind of embarrassing! But then as soon as we were through I put her in the bjorn and voila, she was fine! Here she is waiting for our flight, I had to change her shirt to a long sleeve for the flight.

Then she decided as we were about to board the plane, that she felt like screaming again. So, she did. It was pretty funny (not so much) to try to go to find a seat with a WAILING baby. I ended up sitting in the first row by the window. I'm sure the guy was thrilled to have me sitting there. Then she fell asleep...

Then a bigger guy that smelled of alcohol sat in the middle seat, he kept bumping her legs. She didn't wake, but it was quite obnoxious. After her brief 20 minute nap again, which included sleeping through take off, she woke up and was happy to be sitting with me...

Then with about 20 minutes left in our flight, she started screaming again. Maybe it was her ears? I don't know. She wouldn't take the pacifier and she wouldn't eat, so she just screamed. Then finally I got her to stop with about 5 minutes left. We were good and arrived at the gate, only to find that a plane was still at our gate. Which meant that we could't get to the gate. They announced it would be at least 15 minutes before we would get to the gate. And with that, she started screaming again! When we got to the gate, they wanted passengers that were getting on other flights to get off first, but we got off right away. And of course as soon as we were out and she was in the bjorn, she stopped screaming. She was fine the whole way through the airport and then fell asleep in the car on the way home. All in all, it wasn't too bad of a trip, for my first trip alone with Zuri. Her first new state! Although she didn't see the ocean, since that would have been too much for her to be out, instead of napping on Saturday. We have quite a few trips that we need to go on soon for basketball. I am hoping that they are all as good as this one!

Like a fish...

....In the water.


Zuri had her first trip to the swimming pool today! She had a good nights rest, followed by a fun run in the stroller this morning and so I decided she should go swimming before her nap.

I wasn't sure how she would feel about her first trip to the pool, but she LOVED IT!




We started by sitting in the water...




Then floating on our back, which was fun to her and she probably enjoyed it more because she could chew on her hand while looking around....





Then putting our face in the water (or drinking it YUK!)...But she was cooing the whole time!



The crying started when we got out and it was COLD!





We did enjoy our reusuable swim diaper...so we don't have to buy one every time we go!

3 months 1 week...

Manipulation is defined as: to negotiate, control, or influence (something or someone) cleverly, skilfully, or DEVIOUSLY.

I believe Zuri is a master manipulator at her old age of 14 weeks (yes, not 13). For the past few weeks Zuri went from being an AMAZING sleeper with a Dragon day personality, to a HORRIBLE sleeper with a pretty decent day personality. I have been trying to get her to take naps about every two hours, if I catch her in time she goes down without any problem. The new problems have been the night time and then she decided she didn't want her pacifier. Of course pacifiers are not my favorite item, however, they were allowing me to put her down drowsy and keep her down. But with the hating of the pacifier also came, any and all, denial of going to sleep without me.

Yesterday my mom found a different type of pacifier that Zuri seemed to take, I was thinking this would be very helpful! I put her to bed and she woke up 45 minutes later. Just as I was falling asleep. I had Pedro go in and try to give her the pacifier, she started SCREAMING. After a few minutes I came in and she wanted to nurse back to sleep. She slept for about an hour and a half the next time and I tried to give her the paci and she screamed so again I gave in and nursed her back to sleep. This continued ALL night and has been similar on MOST nights for the past (nearly) 3 weeks. My doctor and everything that I have read says that about 4 months they know the difference and you can try "sleep training".

Today I decided that I would call the doctor to make sure that there isn't anything WRONG with her. Not just because of the sleeping, but because of the dramatic change in behavior, plus massive drooling and her snotty nose (going on 7 weeks of a snotty nose). Mainly because I will be traveling to CA with her for the weekend for work (I am so sorry to all passengers on our flight). The nurse decided we should come in and just make sure she doesn't have an ear infection or sinus infection before flying. I talked to the doctor and she said that Zuri is snotty, but that it seems like some babies are snotty like this and to try a humidifier. No earache. But she said that her change in behavior is probably a combination of starting to teethe (which can show symptoms for weeks/months before teeth erupt) and her personality. That is all I needed to hear to know that I need to start her sleep training NOW. If there is nothing wrong with her than she is just really manipulating me.

I know it will be very hard. Not necessarily hard hearing her cry, since she has cried a lot throughout her life. But hard because I will want to give in when I am tired. I am just hoping that my stubborness is more than hers! Which may or may not be the case since she has both of her parents genes, getting the combination of Pedro and I could be scary!

Today for her nap, I fed her and she was asleep when I laid her down. She woke up 40 minutes later screaming. I went in and unswaddled her and tried to give her the paci. She refused and screamed more. I left. 10 minutes later I returned, I tried to give her the paci and hold her hand for about 1 min and she kept screaming so I left again. When I left the room I went to the computer room and put the music on so I couldn't hear her scream. This went on for over 2 hours. She ended up falling asleep on one of the times I came in and gave her the pacifier. She ended up sleeping for about 2 hours and 15 minutes after all was said and done. I am just hoping that I can maintain and follow through during the night, when things are more difficult to do.

Hopefully, my next post will be about my amazing night sleep!

Zuri weighed 12lbs 6oz (naked).

3 MONTHS!!

I can't believe Zuri is 3 months old! In both respects, I feel like she has been here FOREVER and I feel like she can't be 3 months old yet!

How have things been going??...

That is a difficult answer.


We had some sleep regression. What caused it? Who knows. We were going along, somewhat merrily at night...then BAM! We had wake ups nearly every 1.5 hours, seriously. Now when I say "we" I am usually referring to Zuri and I, just in case you were wondering. It was HORRIBLE. I was so tired. Having about 4 hours of sleep spread out over about 9 hours, is miserable.

Then I bought her some Gripe water. I wasn't actually looking for it, but instead I was looking for something, anything that might make her feel better so she would sleep better. Does it work? It seems like it? But who knows what each day will bring. We also tried a chiropractic appointment today to help. We shall see. She is still very snotty. She has been since the end of February. I am wondering if she is allergic to something.

Anyway, let me tell you how our day went today.

We got up at 2:00am to eat. 6:00am to eat. Followed by a wakeup for the day at 8:00am. We got up and I unswaddled her and she played in her crib for about 40 minutes. I then dressed her and we watched tv for a few minutes, she ate some and then we played for a little more. At about 9:15 she was getting slow moving. So, I swaddled her back up and she went back to sleep at about 9:40. I then laid down for a short nap! She woke up at 10:20, her usual 40 minute wake up. I have read that babies wake up after 40 minutes and need to learn to go back to sleep. At this point she was WIDE awake. I picked her up and rocked her (I know rocking is bad, but no nap is worse at this point), she fell back asleep and slept until 12:15.

We played for a bit more, had another snack and then we were excited for our first gym visit! I had called to reserve a spot at 12:30, but the next available time was 1:30. Having an infant that takes variable length of naps, makes scheduling ahead a pain, especially since her happy awake time is very small. We got ready for the gym, this time Pedro is part of the "we". We headed to the gym at 1:15. While driving there she starts rubbing her eyes. Not a good sign at all. I was getting a little worried because that is one of her first tired signs. At the gym after we got her into the infant room, I told the lady that she was a "holding" baby and that she doesn't play too much on her own right now. She was already getting crabby. NOT GOOD.

Pedro and I headed upstairs, me with my fingers crossed. I worked out for about 20 minutes and I got the page to come and get my screaming baby. Not good. I went downstairs and she was wailing. I picked her up, which eased the crying and walked her around and she stopped. But I knew that bringing her back in would not be successful. So, I told Pedro that Zuri and I would go for a walk to REI. We left and she was asleep on our walk (which is about a block away). Sadly, we had a chiropractic appointment for her at 3:00 and she was asleep already. UGH!

We got back in the car and she woke up. We drove to the chiropractor. He talked and talked and then worked on Pedro then Zuri. At this point Zuri was screaming because she was so tired. We got home at 3:40 and I had her asleep by 3:45. She then slept until 6:45. She got up and was happy. We went for a walk and then decided to sit down on the sofa and see how she was feeling, since dinner was almost ready at 8:00. At this point she got fussy. So, back upstairs and swaddled and fed, she was asleep by 8:40.

That has been our day. Which is very similar to yesterday.


Easter went well, she slept through church and was just ok while we were eating. She wanted to be walked around a bit, but she wasn't screaming. She was super cute in her outfit. I had stayed at my moms the night before since Pedro is working nights and she was not sleeping and so my mom helped me with a 2:00am feeding and I got to get some sleep, which was very exciting.

(I weighed her at the gym and she was 12lbs 8oz, minus clothes so about 12lbs 5oz so up about 1lb in two weeks).


Here are some pictures of the week: